It Ends Tonight
by darkwoodsdreamer
Summary: Who would have thought such a life would be cut short? Written for the Marauders Era Competition. Rated T for language.


**Yes, I am once again procrastinating and coming out with these random one shots for competitions in order to avoid working on my current stories. This is for The Marauders Era Competiton by Addicted-to-sugar-quills is I think how you spell it. Well, read and review and that kind of stuff. There may be some inaccuracies in the last bit but I thought this was more dramatic and it's fanfiction so I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want. Enjoy!**

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><p>Marlene walked the hallway to the kitchen, stretching and yawning. She walked into the kitchen and sat down on a bar stool, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking around her flat. She remembered all those years ago when she and her then boyfriend, Mark, had bought the flat together after they graduated Hogwarts. Mark has gone one to become an Auror. And, she noticed, looking around sleepily, he must have left early for work today. He wasn't anywhere to be found and spotted dishes in the sink that hadn't been there last night. She sighed and got up to start making breakfast - her sister and son would be up any moment now and no doubt they would be hungry. She bustled around the kitchen, putting a few slices of bread in a Muggle toaster Mark had shown her how to use a few days ago, looking for the strawberry jam both Genevieve, her sister, and her preferred and the peach one that had always been her son Daniel's favorite. She finally found the two jars stuffed in the back of the pantry on the wrong shelf and, huffing in annoyance, she grabbed them and set them on the bar with a little more force than necessary.<p>

"Morn', Mum." came the sleepy voice of her 3 year old son. She turned to him and smiled at the adorable way his sleep-tousled brown hair stuck up in the back. She walked over to him and picked him up.

"Good morning, Danny. I'm making toast for us." she said as she buckled him into his booster seat at the table. As I on cue, a ding sounded from behind her. She finished snapping him in and walked over to the cabinet to get a few plates. She placed two pieces on each plate and lathered them with the appropriate flavored jam and carried two of the plates, her own and Danny's, over to the table.

"I'm going to go wake up your aunt." she said, ruffling Danny's hair and kissing his cheek. He nodded, not able to make any noise because he had stuffed so much toast into his cheeks. She chuckled and placed an extra kiss on too of his head before heading off to the bedrooms.

She knocked lightly on the door of the room that Led to Genevieve's room. On this side was her sons room, but there was a divider and on the other side was where her sister slept. It had been a fairly large room, so when Genevieve, nicknamed Genn which was pronounced like Jenn, left school 3 years after she did, they were able to make then 2 year old Daniel's bedroom into two. She crossed the room and opened the divider to find her sister still sleeping soundly even though she had to be to her desk job at the Department of Magical Transportation in half an hour. She walked in and gently shook her sister awake.

"Get up, Genn." she said a bit louder than he usual voice. "You have to be to work soon." Genn stirred but didn't open he eyes. After a few seconds, she muttered,

"What time is it?"

"10:00. You'll be late if you don't hurry up. Breakfast is waiting for you." this was all she needed to say. Her eyes snapped open, revealing the bright green eyes that her sister so envied. She jumped up and rushed out of the room towards the kitchen, brown curls flying out behind her. She was just like a child, Marlene though with a small laugh as she straightened her sisters covers. She walked out into the kitchen a few minutes later to find her son and Genn deep in conversation about what she presumed was the dream he had the previous night.

"-and then, Daddy defeated the dragon all by himself!" he said. Genn grinned at him.

"Wow, that's amazing. Your Pa sure is brave, isn't he?" Danny puffed up his chest proudly.

"Yep! And one day, I'm gonna be just like him!" She came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. He smiled up at her.

"Daddy saved you from a dragon in my dreams last night." he said. Marlene laughed and leaned down to hug her son.

"Wow, that's amazing Danny!" she said. Danny nodded excitedly and twisted in his chair to face her better.

"It was a huge black one like in my picture book!" he said. Marlene vaguely remembered the book Genn had brought home with her one day for him. It had pictures about all different sorts of dragons such as Welsh Green's and Norwegian Ridgebacks. It sounded as though he was talking about the Hungarian Horntail. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair once again before grabbing her plate and eating as quickly as possible. Once she had finished eating she jumped up from the table and dressed hurriedly. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Genevieve had taken the initiative for once and gotten both herself and Danny dressed and ready to go. She picked up a small flowerpot and through some of the green Floo powder inside the fireplace. She stepped inside the bright green flames holding Danny and waved to Genn, who smiled back.

"Potter Mansion!" she yelled over the roar of the flames. She felt herself start to spin rapidly and had to close her eyes as her head started to spin. She felt her son bury his head into her chest - he had never liked traveling by Floo powder, but there was no alternative that was fast enough for them. When they arrived, James and Lily were standing anxiously by the fire, waiting. I climbed out of the fireplace and set Danny down. I brushed ash off of his robes before allowing him to go and play with Sirius Black, who had been taking care of him ever since Lily had gotten pregnant, saying that he was going to need practice with kids since he was to be the godfather.

"My, Lily! Look at you! You're positively glowing!" it was true. She looked positively ecstatic and as though she would be due any day now. "When are you due?" she asked. Lily beamed.

"Any day now, actually." she responded. James put an arm around her and a hand on her stomach, the picture of a proud father. Marlene couldn't help smiling at the two of him, yet she was also a bit concerned.

"Are you sure you should be going into work? When I was pregnant with Danny," she gestured to her son talking animatedly with Black in the corner. "I was already on leave by now." Lily shook her head and gazed lovingly at her stomach.

"No, I'll stay in work. Besides, the Ministry is closer to St. Mungo's if I end up going into labor." Marlene was a bit skeptical. She wasn't this energetic when she was pregnant, but then again Lily was younger than her, so it was only natural that she have more energy like that, wasn't it? Marlene nodded.

"Well, alright. If your sure." she turned to face her son. "Danny, hon!" she called. Daniel turned around to gaze quizzically at her. "I'm leaving now. Come give me a hug." he considered it for a moment. Black leaned down and whispered something in his ear. Danny's face lit up and he nodded and rushed over. Marlene knelt down and gave him a quick hug before he ran back to Black, looking up at him expectantly. He laughed.

"Run along to the kitchen and I'll be right along, squirt." he ran off and Black walked up to James, Lily, and Marlene, rubbing the back of his head and tousling his long black hair.

"How did you do that?" she asked incredulously. "I can't get him to listen to me for the life of me." Black shrugged.

"I only promised to show him a little bit of magic. Nothing big." he said quickly at the look on Marlene's face. "I'll do a Hover Charm or something. He likes that one." Marlene wasn't entirely convinced.

"Not on him, right?" she asked. He laughed and showed his hands in mock surrender.

"You got me." She laughed at this.

"You always were a trouble maker. You and James both. Hopefully," she sent a sideways glance at James. "This baby of him will make him a bit more serious." James scoffed.

"What? Absolutely not! My kids going to know how to play a practical joke before they can even talk." Lily glared at him. "I mean, of course I will be. I'll go straighter than a pencil."

"Whipped." Black said in a sing song voice and James cuffed him on the head. Marlene laughed again.

"Well, we should be getting going. Oh, by the way," she turned back after having turned to the fire,"There's an order meeting this Friday, right?" she asked. Lily nodded in confirmation.

"Well, go on then. You've got 5 minutes before you have to report in to the Auror's office." James looked down at the silver watch on his wrist and yelped.

"Merlin's beard, we're going to be late! No time to get to the Apparation site; we'll have to go by Floo. Marlene, I assume you're coming with us?" Marlene nodded. "Excellent. Just a reminder, Sirius starts as an Auror tomorrow, so Remus will be taking care of Daniel after today." she nodded again.

James picked up a small bowl besides the fireplace and threw a pinch of green powder into the fireplace. "Ministry!" he shouted. Lily and Marlene followed suit. When they arrived, they said there goodbyes and headed off to their respective departments at a bit of a jog. Marlene arrived in the Department of Magical Transportation, Apparation Department with no time to spare.

"Just on time, McKinnon's. There's a shit-load of letters waiting for you." her boss, Jeffrey Damney, said with a bit of an edge to his voice. "I suggest you get started." Marlene took a second to catch her breath before responding.

"Yes... Sir..." she said breathlessly. "Right... Right away, sir." and with a few more deep breaths, hurried off to her desk.

Her job was nothing but paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. It was dull and uninteresting, but somebody had to do it. She had considered being an Auror, and though told she was a very talented witch and should apply to be trained, she had decided not to go through with it. Instead, she had applied for a job in the Department of Magical Cooperation. She had transferred a few times and so far nothing was grabbing her attention. As she read what felt like the 500th letter that day, she was thinking that she may very well apply to the Auror training. This continued for hours. When she looked at her watch for the 50th time and finally it read 3:00, she jumped up from her chair as fast she could and shrugged on her coat. She didn't bother to clean up her desk, as usual. She just wanted to get out and not have to think about any of this legislature and complaining from other departments until tomorrow.

She decided to walk to the Apparation site in London even though it was quite a bit out of the way and would have much easier to Floo. All the Flooing she had done today was starting to make her sick though, and she needed to clear her head and walk around a bit.

She walked through the streets of Muggle London, drawing only a bit of attention. The long coat she had on his the fact that her robes were anything other than a long Muggle dress, but apparently this wasn't quite how Muggles dressed as they still gave her second glances and the adolescents giggled and pointed behind their hands. Marlene resisted the urge to point out to these girls that she could do the same about all the colorful goop they slathered on their faces.

When she reached a small wooded area that was used for Apparation, she met Frank Longbottom, who was also about to Apparate. He inclined his head in her direction.

"Afternoon, McKinnon. How are things?"

"Things are fine, thank you." she responded politely. "How are Alice and the baby?" she inquired, remembering that Alice was pregnant as well and quits as far along as Lily. Frank grinned.

"They're doing quite well. I suppose I'll see you Friday then?" he asked, referring to the Order meeting. Marlene nodded.

"I'll be there." he nodded and Disapparated, Marlene doing the same only a few seconds later. She appeared instantly in the living room.

"Is that you, Marlene?" asked a familiar tired voice from the kitchen, and the head of Remus Lupin appeared around the doorway. He smiled at her. "How are you, Marlene?"

"I'm well. And you, Remus? You sound exhausted." he waved it off.

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me." at that moment Danny came rushing around the corner.

"Mum!" he said in his high pitched child's voice. "Guess what?" he said excitedly. She knelt down so that she was eye level with the small boy.

"What?" she asked, grinning at him. He pointed at Remus.

"He's gonna take care of me tomorrow 'cause Sirius has to go catch bad guys." Remus and Marlene laughed at the explanation the three year old provided.

"Is that so?" she asked. Daniel beamed and nodded.

"And guess what else, Mum?" he said, practically jumping up and down on his feet in excitement. "Guess what Sirius told me? How come Remus is always so tired?" he said. Marlene's smile lingered, but she and Remus exchanged glances. Exactly what had Black said to the boy.

"What did Sirius tell you?"

"He told me Remus is tired 'cause sometimes he has to be a wolf." he explained. "And that being a wolf can make him hurt." Marlene glanced back at Remus, who was looking at the boy with a mixed expression on his face. After a moment, he spoke.

"Sirius told you this?" he asked. Daniel turned to look at him and nodded. He paused, looking thoughtful, then ran up and threw his arms around Remus's legs, which was the highest part of him he could easily reach. Remus looked at him in surprise, then looked at Marlene and back at Daniel as he squeezed him tightly.

"Aunt Genn says hugs always help stop people from hurting." he looked up at Remus. "So did a hug help?" he asked. Remus beamed down at the small boy clinging to him and crouched down to look him in the eyes.

"Yes, very much. Thank you, Danny." Danny gave him another quick hug, this time a proper one now that he could reach, and he ran back over to his mother.

"Mum, Sirius is upstairs 'cause he got a headache." he informed Marlene, who nodded.

"I won't disturb him, then. Could you thank him for me?" Remus nodded vaguely, still staring at Daniel with a mingled expression of happiness and surprise and perhaps a bit of confusion. "We should be going, then. Thank you." They turned towards the fireplace.

"Oh, don't forget that you'll need someone else to take care of him of the 24th and 25th. I think I'll be alright for the 26th though." Marlene nodded.

"You won't play with me those days?" Danny asked, his face falling just a bit. Remus shook his head.

"No... I have to be a wolf then." he explained, using the terms Sirius had. Danny nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I'll make sure to give you extra hugs when you get back." he decided. Remus smiled gently.

"I'd like that." he looked at Marlene. "I'll see you tomorrow then." she nodded and with that, she and Danny went home.

When she got their, it was 10 minutes to 4:00, meaning Mark would be home soon. Excited, Marlene started to straighten up the house a bit, sweeping the kitchen floor and straightening the couch cushions and pillows. She had just finished loading the dishwasher when she heard the unmistakeable crack that meant someone had Disapparated. Danny sang from his booster seat when he heard this, distractedly singing the words, "Daddy's home, home, home! Daddy's home, home, home!" over and over again. Marlene dried her hands a towel and turned expectantly, a smile on her face that froze at the sight that met her instead of her husband. 5 people in dark cloaks wearing masks moved slowly into the room. Danny had noticed them and stopped singing, instead pointing and asking in a fearful voice, "Mum? Mum, who are those people? They're scaring me. Mummy, make them leave." One of the masked Death Eaters turned to him and snarled, "Shut up, disgusting half breed brat!" Marlene's defense system kicked in as the shock of having Death Eaters show up in her house wore off. She stepped angrily and fearfully toward her son as he shrank away from the Death Eater approaching him. A cold laugh came from one of the other four.

"Oh no." said a high, drawling voice. "No, you'll be staying right there." Marlene looked around desperately for her wand. How could she have been so stupid to have put it down with Lord Voldemort's supporters and Voldemort himself in the loose? She spotted it - and her hear sank. It was sitting on the counter several feet away from her. The Death Eater who had spoken earlier followed her gaze and saw it sitting their. "Oh, you think you have a fighting chance? No, I don't think so. That won't do at all. Accio Wand!" he said, raising his own wand. Her's went flying into his hands and he held it between his forefinger and thumb, waving it back and forth tantalizingly while the others laughed. Marlene stood, paralyzed with fear. She had no wand and her husband and Genn weren't back from work yet. She watched as a Death Eater reached out and picked up Daniel, roughly yanking him from his chair and throwing him on the ground next to his mother. Relieved to have her son back near her, she caught him and held him close as he sobbed quietly into her chest. She looked up at them, anger pumping through her veins like a white hot iron.

"I want you to leave my house this instant." she said, her voice low and trembling from a mix of fear and rage. The Death Eaters only laughed.

"Leave? Not yet, no. First I think you're going to have to pay for your rudeness." he turned to another Death Eater. "Take the brat."

"NO!" Marlene screamed, holding Daniel tighter still. She wouldn't let them take him from her for anything. Two of the masked people came over to where they were huddled in the corner. Her fear escalated as they drew closer. One of them grabbed her and the other grabbed Daniel, trying to wrestle them away from each other. It was several minutes before they had managed to pry her off of him and she had screamed and sobbed the whole time, the same with Daniel. When she had finally calmed down enough to speak, she realized she had a gash on her arm that was bleeding profusely, but she ignored it. The Death Eater's laughed at the sight of her.

"Someone will have heard!" Marlene shrieked, on the verge of a breakdown. "Someone will have heard and they'll be calling the Auror's and the Muggle law-keepers." they only laughed harder.

"My dear, no one has heard you. We places Silencing Charms on the room when we walked in. But really, do you believe that we are scared of the Muggles?" Marlene could only watch then struggle to keep her son still. The Death Eater who had done all the talking turned to her son and continued in his high, cold drawl, "I seem to remember saying you needed to be punished." he said in a mock-thoughtful tone. He tapped his finger on his chin and suddenly stopping and pretending to just have gotten an idea. He raised his wand slowly and pointed it at Daniel, who seemed to have cried all his tears and was eyeing the wand warily while whimpering and trying to scoot away, but every time he moved the Death Eater behind him kicked him sharply back into place. Silent tears cascaded down her face as she watched, frozen to the spot and muttering unintelligible things to herself. The Death Eater kept his eyes on her as he said the spell.

"Crucio."

Daniel began to scream in agony and writhe around on the floor, crying out for his mother and father. Marlene began to scream again to and tried to jump up and run to him, but a painful Cutting Hex hit her in the leg, causing her to collapse. She couldn't bear to watch her son scream in agony and not be able to do anything about it, so she buried her head in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably, so hard that even if her leg had been able to support her weight at this point, she wouldn't have been able to stand from the force of her tears.

Finally, finally, the screaming stopped and Marlene looked up warily and saw her son panting and out of breath, moaning in pain. At three years old it was miraculous he had even survived the curse, but he most likely would not survive it again. However, the man seemed to have grown bored of him for now and Marlene allowed a breath of relief that he hadn't killed Danny, that he was still alive. The Death Eater only stared at him now and Marlene found her voice, however quiet and shaky it was.

"Leave my son alone, you bastards." she said in a low voice that was meant to be threatening but only came out fearful. The men laughed.

"Leave him alone? Oh, but we won't be leaving either o you alone. Not," he said, pausing and walking right up to her and leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Until both of you are dead." Marlene stiffened in horror. She had known the Death Eaters were after members of the Order and their families, but she and Mark had been convinced they had covered their tracks well. Her eyes widened in sudden realization. Mark...

"Where are Mark and Genevieve?" No answer. Anger and dread boiled just below the surface. "Where are my husband and sister you bastards?" she yelled. She made to get to her feet, willing her leg to support her when a Death Eater in the corner flicked his wand lazily at her and she flew across the room, slamming hard into the wall behind her. She heard a sharp crack and pain from her lower back threatened to consume her. She fought hard against the blackness starting to consume her as she fell to the floor.

"I wonder if you realize," drawled the cold, uncaring voice that she knew but couldn't place, "that you are just one more murder in our massacre. That you are nothing special. You are nothing." she made one more valiant attempt to stand, but then she heard the one thing that she had nightmares about, the one thing that had made her wake up screaming and crying in cold sweat.

"Avada Kedavra." and suddenly Daniel had stopped crying and whimpering. Marlene felt a single tear run down her cheek as she lost her last threads of will to live. Her husband... sister... and now her son too... Everything she had was gone. Everything precious in this world had been stolen from her. As she lost the will to fight the overwhelming blackness and pain, she wondered where she and her family were going from here.

Maybe in another life... her family would have survived this stupid war.


End file.
